Kuken Industries searches 70 years of drawings in minutes

Kuken Industries, a major Japanese manufacturer of air conditioning and ventilation equipment, has digitized 70 years of engineering drawings but faced challenges in making them easily searchable, especially for newer engineers. Partnering with AI startup Recursive and using OpenAI models, Kuken developed a search system that allows engineers to find drawings by part number, image, or PDF. The tool is expected to reduce search time by about 90%, enabling engineers to spend more time on design improvements and mentoring. Additionally, Kuken is prototyping an AI tool to review partner drawings, with initial tests showing about 90% of flagged issues were genuine discrepancies. The initiative aims to preserve and transfer engineering knowledge to the next generation.

(Source：OpenAI)